Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Camila, Normani, Dinah, and Ally all sat together in the hotel room waiting for Lauren to log on to Skype. She had been taking a much longer time than expected, and it was driving Camila nuts. It would have been okay for her to open her eyes a few hours ago, but her girlfriend was just taking far too long of a time. To pass the time, the girls talked about how their first live shows on 'The Voice' would go. They talked about which songs they'd choose, and which clothes to wear. Sometimes they even tried to plan out their set design and lighting for each performance. The girls really got into the conversation, and they didn't care how crazy they sounded.

"I would want things to be colorful!" Ally exclaimed with a wide smile. "I'd want to give the crowd some good vibes from my performances with the help of some colorful effects!"

Normani added, "I would want to add some sick dance moves to my performances. People seem to enjoy the art of dance during a performance, so I'd dance to spruce things up a bit."

"I'd want to do something by Beyonce. Perhaps I'd do 'Single Ladies' and do the little dance that goes with it," Dinah said. She mimicked Beyonce's dance from the actual music video, causing the girls to laugh. Except for Camila of course, who still couldn't see a thing. She just imagined that it was some kind of silly dance, since it was something that she had heard a lot about in her past.

"What would you do for yours, Mila?" Ally asked Camila, curious to know what she would do differently or similarly.

Camila thought to herself for a minute. What would she do for her performances? Would they be colorful? Dark? Fun? She finally answered, "I would base mine entirely on the vocals. Being blind, I've learned that the other senses are just as important as sight. For my performances, even if I can see, I want to focus purely on the sound of my voice. That's what the show is about, after all. The show is called 'The Voice' for a reason."

"This is why we think you're going to win. You have a good head on your shoulders, and a good brain held within it. Many vocalists don't think like you do, so I think that might be something that you have that everyone else lacks," Normani explained to her friend.

Camila smiled, now more confident in herself than she usually was. Her smile soon transformed back into a frown as she remembered why they were talking about this in the first place. Lauren was taking a long time, and she was actually starting to get worried. Did she forget? Did she have to stay late with Annabelle that day? Was there an emergency? A sudden meeting with Mr. Holland? It could have been anything, but Camila just wanted to open her eyes. She wanted to know if the operation was a success or not. "Guys, I'm getting impatient. We should call her. She's taking a long time, and I'm beginning to think that something has happened to her."

"I'm sure that she's fine, but yeah, we can definitely try calling her. It doesn't hurt to try does it?" Dinah asked as she pulled out her phone. "I'm going to try calling her right now." Dinah dialed Lauren's cell phone number, then pressed the call button. The tone rang three times before Lauren finally picked up.

"Hello? Dinah?" Lauren questioned her.

"Hey girl, what's up? You were supposed to be on Skype to call Camila. Did you forget that she can open her eyes today? She's been waiting for almost two hours now, and you know how she gets when you make her wait for something," Dinah interrogated.

Lauren responded, "Of course I didn't forget. There's a perfectly good explanation for why I'm not on Skype right now."

"Yeah? What's that? She's dying to open her eyes, Lauren... Desperate, even. What could be so important that you need take forever just to call her?" Dinah asked.

"You can't tell Camila this, but I'm outside of your hotel. I wanted to see her in person. It would be a much better experience if I was there when she opens her eyes. I told Annabelle and her family where I was going today, so you don't have to worry about that," Lauren explained.

Dinah's eyes widened. "Really? How did you get here? I know by plane, but with what money? Do you have a secret stash of money or something?"

"I pulled money out of my savings account just to catch a flight here. It'll all be worth it when I see you guys again, though. I really want to see what happens with Camila. Is there a way that you could convince Camila to open her eyes without me being on Skype? I want to surprise her."

"Eh, there's no way. She's too stubborn, you know her. There's no way that I can make that happen. How about you call her on Skype now? I have a plan," Dinah said in a voice just quiet enough for only Lauren to hear.

"Uh, yeah. I can do that right now. I'll see you in a few, Dinah."

"Okay, girl." Dinah ended the call, then turned back to her friends. "She's about to call. Get ready, Camila."

Normani and Ally gave Dinah questionable looks, but she motioned to them as if to tell them not to worry. Moments later, a call from Lauren appeared on the screen of Normani's laptop that was being used for this occasion. Normani clicked on the answer button, and Lauren appeared on the screen. When she saw Lauren, Normani recognized that she was in the hotel lobby.

"Wait. Isn't that-?" Normani was cut off by Dinah covering her mouth to prevent her from asking anything about the situation.

"Lauren?" Camila questioned to her girlfriend from the other side of the screen. "Are you ready for me to open my eyes yet?"

Before answering, Lauren walked in through the hotel room door, being careful not to make too much noise. She didn't want to make it obvious that she was there since it was a surprise. "I'm ready whenever, Camz. Open your eyes, then tell me everything and anything that you see."

Camila nodded, then opened her eyes. She then began to describe everything, "I can see light! At least, I think it's light. That's what it feels like, anyways. But that's all I'm seeing. All I can see is a white light. Again, I think it's white." Camila blinked a couple more times, then described any differences. An internal happiness began to burst as things started to work out for her. "Wait, I'm starting to see some figures. They aren't clear, I don't think. Things are very... blurry? If that's what you call it. But I'm not just seeing white anymore. I'm starting to see, um... I think they're colors?! Obviously, I don't know which is which, but I'm certain that they're colors! I don't know what figures I'm seeing either, but it's still something!" She blinked a few more times, and things started to pick up again. "I think I can see your outline, Lauren! The top of your head is like a dark color. Didn't you say that you were a brunette one time? Yeah, I think you did. I'm seeing brown! It's close to black, but I'm seeing brown! And I... I can see your facial features. Again, blurry, but I can see parts of a human face! I can see green too! It's in your eyes! My vision is finally sharpening! And Lauren... you're gorgeous! It's almost like I can touch you!"

"You can, Camz. You can. I came here just for this moment. I wanted to be here physically. Just for you," Lauren told Camila.

"Oh my gosh!" Camila exclaimed. "Let me just see how much clearer my vision can get! I can see that you're wearing a dress! It's a lighter color! And it has some kind of print on it! What am I seeing?"

Lauren giggled and said, "My dress is light blue, and it's decorated with a floral print. That's what you're seeing! Your vision must be pretty good if you can see that!"

Camila jumped up and down with excitement while clapping her hands together. She shrieked with happiness at the sound of already having good vision. "Let me finish! You're wearing a necklace, I think! Also, you're wearing black shoes! I can tell that, because there's no color that I know better than black. This is so incredible! I can really see!"

"I'm so glad that it really worked, Camz! This is so exciting! Now I can finally do what I need to do," Lauren said with a smile.

"Hey!" Camila exclaimed. "You got shorter! How did you do that? I'm new to this whole seeing thing! Don't mess with me!"

Lauren laughed. "I didn't get shorter, Camz. I've just knelt down, that's all."

"Why would you do that, though? Unless..." Camila trailed off.

"Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao," Lauren began, causing everyone in the room to gasp. She pulled a little, black box out of her pocket, then opened it to reveal a diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"

- - - - - - -

A/N: So there you have it, guys! Camila can finally see! But will she say yes to Lauren? You'll find out in the next chapter!

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